Improvement in sand-scoops



`JOHN SHEETS,- oF' COLUMBIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LettersPatent No. 75,989, dated March 24, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN SAND-SGOPS.

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TO .ALL WHOM `IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN SHEETS, 'of Columbia, in the county of'Lancaster, and'State of'. Pennsylvania, have invented a new` and usefulScoop and Appliances for Raising Sand fromthe River-Bed on to a Boatvand the like; and I dohereby declare that the following is a fnll,clear, and exact description of thc construction and operation of' thesame, reference beingliad to the accompanying drawings, making a partof' this specification, in whichl y l Figure l isa perspective viewAofthe scoop and appliances attached.

Figure 2, the sante on a smallerscale, illustrating its operation inpart;

The nature of roy invention Aconsists in'providing a long-handledsc'oopand appliances, to-ena-ble me to raise sa-nd fro'mithje bottom ofa river-bed or stream, where the water-,is too deep to wade in, andraise it with an ordinary shovel, as is the usual practice for procuringthe sand, so mulch used for building purposes.v

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation. I i f i l. 'i l Fig.1 shows'my scoop,-made'of stoutvs'heet iron or light boiler-iron, say,bottom A, sixteen inches square, hind rim, C, raised'np-in alineperpendicular to the base, six inches, the sides, B B', rounded oito thefront edge. A socket for a handle, H, is aiiixed centrallytothe rear endC, on the inside, the handle,vsny eightfeet long, fashioned above at H,likethe handle of a'spade or plane. -At D,tliere is a shoulder left inthe wood, or Set on, and a 1'ing,-E, with a'hook or ringl'through theonitedand raised endsyvfor theattachnnent of a rope, G. There are also apairofA braces, F F, shown, made'in a continuous piecc,.of stout; roundiron lwire, which is aixed on each side, to the forward portion ofthe-raised sides B. The cord G is provided witha series of' links, L,asshown. l: l Y l .l 'I l v The manner of using this'scoop is as follows:The boat used being usually what istermed Hat-bottom. This is .anchoredover the bed of sand, a stout spike is firmly drivenin at a suitablepoint on the boat, For the purpose of holding therop'e, by one of itsllinks being throivnover it, so vthat when rthe scoop `is thrust vdowninto the sand, the portion of Vrope from the ring on the handleisstretched', and, forming'abrace or fulcrum for the leverage of vthehandle, which is pushed ont and the scoop f1lled, and the ropevis thenused to -aid in raising the same, andthe ring E allows the scoop tobre-turned, -sothat shoulder D en the vhandle is lodged upon the edgeofthe boat,`. and forms a rest or fulcrum for turningthe scoop inwards,anddischarging its contents into the boat. Thus, by tl1is .m.etl1od, vIhave raisedsand in one day, with comparative ease, that Vyielded-mesixteen dollars, whereas by the method universally in use here, (orelsewhere, as faras I kno\v,) it was a hard days work Yto earn Vfivedollars. y

I am aware that the device may seem very simple, and offers no specialnovelty in its parts, separatelyconidered,'but in the application it.has proved an eicient invention, of whiclrothers are very ready toavail themselves. l

What vI claim as my invention, and desire to secure lhy Letters Patent,is

The arrangement ofthe socket, scoop, and handle H, with its shoulder D,ring E, `braces F F, in combination with the rope, or its equivalent,and linksL, when made substantiallyin the manner and forthe purposespeeied;

JOHN SHEETS'.

Witnesses:

JOHN M. AMWEG, JACOB STAUFFER.

